Sullivan DPW supervisors OK concessions; save job

MONTICELLO — Sullivan County's Division of Public Works supervisors agreed Friday to wage and benefit concessions in exchange for keeping their ranks at 13 for the next two years.

Leonard Sparks

MONTICELLO — Sullivan County's Division of Public Works supervisors agreed Friday to wage and benefit concessions in exchange for keeping their ranks at 13 for the next two years.

The deal calls for smaller raises, higher health insurance payments and the elimination of special annual lump-sum payments. The agreement also saves one of two DPW supervisor positions among 15 county jobs to be cut.

"It's a good agreement," said Sandy Shaddock, business agent for Teamsters Local 445, which represents the supervisors.

The county Legislature met Friday afternoon to ratify the agreement and to also restore a records management position that was among the cuts.

Supervisors will pay 15 percent of their health insurance premiums in 2011 and in 2012, with a yearly cap of $2,700, and forgo special "infrastructure" payments of $75 for each year of service in 2011 and $85 in 2012.

They also agreed to halve their 2011 raise from 4 percent to 2 percent and their 2012 raise from 4.5 percent to 2.25 percent.

The estimated total value of the wage and benefit concessions is $80,000 annually, roughly equal to the annual salary and benefits for a road maintenance supervisor position that was saved from being cut.

"It was done with a lot of good back and forth and everybody working together," Legislature Chairman Jonathan Rouis said of the agreement.

One of the deal's key elements was the preservation of the supervisory unit's staffing level, said Brian Worzel, the road maintenance supervisor whose position was to be eliminated.

Worzel was surprised to discover he had no rights to "retreat" to another position when he received his layoff notice.

The unit's other supervisors then found out they also had no retreat rights, making them vulnerable to future layoffs, said the Glen Spey resident, who has been with the county 13 years.

"It's a relief," Worzel said of the agreement. "It's been a long couple of weeks."